"The Helmand is a river of great importance for Iran because it allows the agricultural areas of Sistan and Baluchestan to develop. Tehran in May accused Kabul of violating a 1973 treaty that grants Iranians the right to use 22 cubic metres of water per second with the possibility of an additional four cubic metres.Ĭlaiming that it is receiving only about 4 percent of the agreed amount, Iran issued a warning to the Taliban and demanded access to Helmand waters. Iran depends heavily on this water for farmland irrigation in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, and has recently pointed the finger at Afghanistan for limiting the supply. The dispute between the two countries mainly revolves around the Helmand River, whose turquoise waters emerge from the Hindu Kush mountains in east-central Afghanistan and flow southwest across more than half the length of the country before emptying into the Helmand swamps on the border with Iran. ![]() ![]() ![]() Iranian and Afghan Taliban forces clashed on the border two weeks ago, resulting in two deaths and several wounded as tensions surrounding water rights continue to rise between Tehran and Kabul.Įach accusing the other of firing first, Iran and Afghanistan are increasingly taking a belligerent stance on the sharing of water supplies as a rapidly changing climate exacerbates water insecurity in the region.
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